John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx were atheists, and Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. Charles Darwin was more an agnostic, declaring the question of god beyond our comprehension.
Get your questions ready! Ask an Atheist Day is April 16! #AskAnAtheist #SecularStudentshttps://t.co/VKiG3n2B1h pic.twitter.com/p2c2mjd3AJ
— Secular Students (@SecularStudents) April 11, 2020FAQs ... The Secular Web...So I didn't freely choose to be an atheist? I was deliberately created as such to function as a divine tool? So do I deserve divine punishment for being an atheist, then? https://t.co/0ebzTEAKl3— Stephen Law (@stephenlaw60) April 15, 2020
Atheism is a choice no matter what anyone says. What you CHOOSE to believe in is up to you, that decision cannot be made for you under any circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI think what he is getting at is under the umbrella of "if there is a God He created me to be an Atheist." To me it is a flawed argument as I personally believe everyone has free will.
DeleteStephen Law is an atheist. He's calling out the hypocrisy of those who say on the one hand that God made everyone just the way they are, but who also then say that those who THEY think were made to be atheists also deserve to be judged as though they made themselves. If we do all have free will, as many theists assert (and me too), then it makes no sense to claim that a god made them that way (thus denying their free will).
DeleteWe can never know if anything we do is a choice or if free will is involved. Our entire lives could already be written we would never know.
ReplyDeleteBut it doesn't feel that way, does it?
DeleteThis is a valid statement however it will be a lost cause with most people who paint with broad strokes to suite their view point.
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In the least disrespectful way, I would simply ask an atheist, why do you believe what you do? I really enjoy seeing the other of the religious spectrum as much as I can.
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I believe there is no god because I've seen no compelling evidence that there is AND because the problem of suffering seems to me impossible to reconcile with an omnipotent, omniscient, morally perfect creator.
DeleteWhen people say that there is no compelling evidence for God, I like to counter with "Is there compelling evidence that there is no God?" I like this question because the responses I get can tell me a lot about how the person I am talking to sees the world. It's fun food for thought! I wonder if the question of which position has the most compelling evidence will ever be solved.
DeleteI believe what I do because it makes the most sense to me. Honestly, I think if there is a god it's obvious we're intended to have some effect and influence to make the world a better place, it won't be done for us. And so, assuming God is well, God, he's not stupid. As long as I live my live trying to make the world a better place, he'll know and that's probably what the important part is at the end - not drinking wine and eating bread and singing every Sunday morning in the same building. If I'm wrong and the tithing was the important part, it's a pretty big oops. But Jesus didn't write the bible, so it sorta seems like a find your own path type thing and evaluate what other people have to say and go on your way. I think if I clean up whatever circuitous path I take through life, all's well that ends well. As far as I can tell, there is no magical god so that's how I have to understand things get done in the world - it's up to us.
DeleteBit of a ramble sorry, but it's more of a lack of organized religion than completely devoid of spirituality.
i think its kinda funny how a bunch of people will judge people for their beliefs, but if you think about if god made everyone in its owen image then atheists are made in gods image.
ReplyDeleteIn my hometown, religion is everything. I wish I had grown up around more people that took the perspective of atheism. The stress of an omnipotent god reading your every thought can really groom you into being complacent. Section 6
ReplyDeleteOr terrified.
DeleteI'm a pluralist. I don't personally believe in a god but I'm glad there are people I can talk to who do. The ones who don't want to talk to me in a spirit of mutual respect, but who just want to send me to hell, however...
After growing up in a Catholic household and talking to other students I've met at MT who were raised similarly, it's almost as if we all abandoned the faith that our parents tried to force feed us growing up. As one without any faith in a higher power, I feel no consequences for my beliefs, or lack of.
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